


Island Home

by vladamsandler



Category: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Genre: Gen, mentions of Gunpei Ikari
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 12:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14852703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vladamsandler/pseuds/vladamsandler
Summary: A piece of something I want to explore: Hank Marlow’s readjustment to civilian life, and his lost relationship with Gunpei Ikari.





	Island Home

 

Marlow snaps awake and sits straight up. He glances with wide eyes at his empty hand, panting at the slow realization that a weapon isn’t necessary in his home. He’s home now. He doesn’t need to sleep next to a machete anymore.

“Hon?”

“Uh, just go back to sleep sweetie, I’ll be fine.”

Marlow waits for his wife to roll over before sliding gently to the floor. He still hasn’t gotten used to how soft their mattress is. And the silence.

He stares at the black wall, listening to nothing. There are no sounds of a buzzing forest, lapping riverwater, or deep, underground rumbling here. This is suburbia. This is home.

Marlow pulls at his hair gently and sighs.

“This is real,” he whispers to himself. “It’s real. It’s real. Please tell me I’m not dreaming. Ikari...” His throat feels tight and his eyes burn. “Ikari, I need you.”

He receives no response. But he’s not alone.

Marlow takes a deep breath and listens for his wife’s soft exhales. He times his own with their rhythm.

She’s a stranger to him. Everything he thought he could remember about her seems to be false memory. Or perhaps she’s just changed too much. It’s been so long...

Everything is different now. He’s living in a world he no longer understands.

“Ikari, did you hear they put a man on the moon? He eats spam.”

Marlow keeps his eyes closed and mutters softly to himself.

“Our countries are no longer at war. We can be brothers, Ikari. You and me. We’ll figure everything out. Just like we always do, right?” Marlow loosens his grip on his hair. “Remember that time you saved me from the big stick bug thing? It knocked me unconscious and you had to drag my full dead weight out of the bamboo on your back, with one hand weilding your katana.”

Marlow rubs an errant tear away. “I still owe you a beer for that,” he whispers. “Listen, I’m going to find your family, okay? Ikari, I’m going to find your sister and your parents and I’m going to tell them what happened to you. Even if they don’t believe me... Or can’t understand me, because I don’t speak Japanese...” Marlow blinks thoughtfuly. “I’ll tell them anyway. That you were braver than I ever was. That they should be proud.”

Marlow slowly rises and sits gently down on the edge of the bed. He reaches for the glass of water on his bedside table, barely illuminated by the blinking red light of his alarm clock.

“We’ll figure it out,” Marlow mumbles, laying down on his too-soft pillow and pulling up his too-warm blanket. “Goodnight, Ikari.”

 


End file.
